Review Summary: A unique metal style is born.
DDM is a one man band, composed of the multi-insturmentalist/vocalist/songwriter Danny Dodge from Boston. He is aswell his own producer.
He created this project five months ago, with a new hybrid and unique sound, that you could qualify Glitch Metal.
It's like a mix between dubstep and death metal, that leads into a brand new, unique and revolutionary style.
He was made famous thanks to his Death Metal cover of "Friday" by Rebecca Black, and made an outstanding performance. Unfortunatly, this is the only song he made that is famous. The rest of what he made remains underground.
I decided to give a listen to the album he released, called Lucidity. You can either get the album for free and legally (link at the end of the review), or buy it on iTunes.
Track by Track analysis:
"Conception" 1:08 : An electronic instrumental. It's slow and a bit chilling. It is really short, but a bit repetitive. It opens the album pretty well though, showing a bit of electronic. 3.5/5
"Becoming Perception" 3:35: You can hear the vocals for the first time, and realize that he uses two types of screams that blend very well. The part from 1:11 to 1:46 is aswell one of the best parts of the album. Guitar and electronics blend very well and this combination leads in another outstanding part. At the end, it sounds like robotic, with some unique sound effects, even on the vocals. The lyrics are about the same subject that the other tracks: "I am right and wrong, I am love and hate/For when it comes to god/I will judge myself" and "I am the voice of truth and creation/Walk the path of the few enlightened/See another existence/in and above/Become the perception" sum up pretty well the lyrics of the song: being someone superior, like a god.
4,5/5.
"Illusion" 3:31: The track directly start. No time for an intro. At 1:20, it starts to become slow, and then a female clean vocal joins in. This voice is really awesome and adds a very good atmosphere to the song. This adds an evil ambiance in the song. The part starting from there is pretty nice, the electronic gets really awesome, and really shows Danny Dodge's skills in electornics. The riffing is pretty nice aswell. Unfortunatly the beginning is a bit monotonous. Nevertheless, it's impossible not to yell "WE ARE IN HELL!!!" while listening to this song.
Let's talk about the lyrics: the lyrics of the part where the female sings is really cool. The song is mainly about dedicating your life about God, and how we all have been living under "an illusion" that constrains our living. Listening to god will prevent us from going to hell. This first "real" track shows the great talent of Danny Dodge, and how he can master all the insturments and electronics.
4,5/5 : The beginning is a bit boring, but it gets awesome after.
"Breed" 2:49: A short track, that starts with some electronic and then guitars and drums join in. This intro is really nice, because insturments blend very well with the epic electronic.
Then a little breakdown, a small electronic, and the vocals join in the party. Same old combinaison between the two types of screams. The electronics behind the vocals are pretty catchy and good.
There's a long breakdown solo, with drums and electronic that slowdown the pace of the song, but then the guitars joins in again, and make it even more epic. When the vocalist joins again, the electronics are really sad and good. The sad fading outro adds a little touch to the song. The lyrics are about the world, and how we all became animals in our misconception of life. "I am free/Free from they're misconception of life/I am in this alone". The I refers to a person that isn't an animal of that breed, and lives alone in his true reality.
4.5/5
"Sight From Above" 2:50: Another instrumental. This one is very good, and it really makes you feel emotions, especially the intro. After the guitar and drums join in, and make it a bit more energetic.
The outro is a bit like the intro, still really sad. 4/5
"Presence" 3:09: Another really good track. The electronics are once again really awesome, especially from 1:30 until the 2:13, which is probably the best part of the album.
After this part, the electronic is still there, but the guitar, drums and vocals are covering it a bit. The vocals in this are still pretty good throughout the song. Riffing is pretty good aswell. The fading outro blends very well with the beginning of the next track.
This song has probably the best lyrics of the album: "Spirit inside awaken/Breath the breathe of mine/Inhabit this mortal existence/Lead me this self-righteous path". This song is about how we are slaves of our own existence, and about the rising of one person, the soldier of Earth, the soldier of truth.
5/5 : One of the best tracks in the album.
"Transcendance" 5:13: What an intro. Really sad, chilling and full of growing emotions, throughout the crescendo. Then a monster-like scream joins in, and changes the whole pace of the song, to something faster. The background electronics fit well with the insturments. The switch between the two types of screams is well mastered and makes a pretty nice sound. The riffage is good aswell. Then, it slowdowns, but another scream comes, with some electronic effects that adds something unique to the end of that scream. The drums join in again,
and accelerate that part, with some electronic elements that join aswell throughout the part. The end of the song is pretty good aswell. The lyrics is about a person that has power that equal to god ones, he is the master of himself. This is probably the following of the previous track, with that person that finally opens the eye of the world, and turns into the god that shows the perfection of the world, and that excludes the fear of death.
5/5.
"Immortal" 3:20: At this point, you got a lot of "In Your Face" tracks. And goddamn, it never ends. The electronic in the intro is really epic and awesome. I first thought that my media player was glitching, because the song suddenly stoped, but it was a part of the song. The same saturated sound is used during the whole intro. This song really shows the epicness of the electronics that are used in the album. Same really good and unique vocals. The lyrics are pretty good aswell, and are about the same thing as Transcendance: immortality and being God. Great closer.
5/5 : Great demo of electronics.
And then I realised the album was way too short, and replayed it 7 times.
Pros: - Awesome electronics in the whole album, revolutionary music style.
- All Killer, No Filler.
- Catchy and addictive.
- Lyrics are really good, and are about one main subject overall.
- Very well structured songs.
- Some outstanding tracks.
- You can get it for free and legally (https://www.facebook.com/guitarmessenger Like this and you will be able to download the album and the instrumental version of all the tracks), or buy it on iTunes.
Cons: - Needs more bass.
- Some tracks are a bit too short.
- Not enough tracks.
- Guitars are too low, vocals are too high in the mix.
Overall: An awesome album. I still can't realize how great Danny Dodge is for making all the insturments, electronics and vocals. He deserves respect for making something unique and revolutionary. He definetly deserves to be way more famous than this. This debut album is really great, ambicious and makes you want more.
Final Rating : 3,7/5.
Recommended Tracks: "Presence", "Becoming Perception", "Illusion", "Transcendence", "Immortal". Well, the whole album almost.
